House Speaker Mike Johnson endured a titanic struggle to get Ukraine aid through the House, one that demonstrates the benefits of cooperation and the pitfalls of extremism. His ultimate success on Saturday, however, came at a dear price, one paid by Ukrainians in blood and in the countless lives that might have been saved had […]
Ben Bragdon
Staff Writer
Ben Bragdon is managing editor of the Sun Journal. Prior to that, he was deputy managing editor for news at the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel. Ben was previously editorial page editor for those newspapers and Central Maine Sunday for more than 10 years. Before that, he was managing editor for weekly newspapers at Current Publishing in Westbrook. He began his career as a reporter at the Piscataquis Observer in Dover-Foxcroft and editor at the Moosehead Messenger in Greenville. He has a bachelor’s degree in history from Boston University.
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Maine Compass: Across Maine, small businesses are thriving through the franchise sector
If our communities are the heart and soul of the Pine Tree State, then hard work is the heart and soul of our communities. From the seacoast to across the interstate, each town has its own distinct qualities, but passion and grit are the foundation of them all. For my family, that hard-working Mainer spirit transformed […]
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Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Commentary: Think life just keeps getting worse? Try being nostalgic — for the present
Nostalgia seems harmless enough, and then someone starts earnestly — absurdly — glamorizing the Stone Age. “Damn can you imagine being a human during the paleolithic age,” tweeted a self-described “eco-socialist” podcaster in September 2021. “Just eating salmon and berries and storytelling around campfires and stargazing … no jobs no traffic no ads no poverty […]
Posted inEditorials, Opinion
View from Away: If 10 straight months of record-breaking heat isn’t a climate emergency, what is?
Californians have had weekend after weekend of cool, stormy weather and the Sierra Nevada has been blessed with a healthy snowpack. But the reality is that even the last few months have been more than 2 degrees hotter than average. The planet is experiencing a horrifying streak of record-breaking heat, with March marking the 10th […]
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Commentary: Will former Trump officials vote for America first?
Conservative Republican Trump insiders are confronting the fact that they have a tough decision they must make.
Posted inEditorials, Opinion
View from Away: Government incompetence is keeping kids out of college
President Joe Biden’s botched rollout of a revamped financial aid form reveals a stunning lack of managerial competence. It has left colleges unable to tell millions of students how much they’ll have to pay, causing some to delay enrolling and others to drop the idea altogether. This easily avoidable failure threatens to deprive low-income Americans […]
Posted inEditorials, Opinion
View from Away: Potatoes are not grains. Keep them rooted in the vegetable family
An influential federal committee that sets the country’s nutritional guidelines is considering reclassifying the potato as a member of the grain family, ostensibly as a strategy to combat a growing obesity epidemic. Instead, the action would confuse consumers and potentially rob Americans of affordable calories at a time food insecurity is spiking. The Dietary Guidelines […]
Posted inKennebec Journal, Local & State, Morning Sentinel, News
From the archives: The 1963 eclipse brought wonder, disappointment to central Maine
The people who could see the rare astronomical phenomenon were awed, but because of rainstorms, many never got a glimpse.
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Commentary: A ‘grave counterintelligence threat’ aided Trump in 2016. He wants him back
Americans’ collective judgment is so clouded by hyperpartisan lenses that we are missing a potential national security threat right before our very eyes. Former President Donald Trump is apparently considering reenlisting someone onto his campaign who the Senate Intelligence Committee once dubbed “a grave counterintelligence threat” because of ties to a Russian oligarch. On March […]
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Maine Compass: Legislature must take charge of EV rules
Consequential policies like EV mandates should be decided by lawmakers, not by regulators.